Henry Thurston Clark trunk, ca. 1872

Henry T. Clark, General Baggage Agent of the European and North American Railway, was determined to prove that checked baggage could be sent quickly and efficiently from one side of the country to the other.

So he packed a small hand trunk with a canteen of Atlantic Ocean water, a bottle of Halifax brandy, a railroad timetable, letters, and newspapers, and sent it on its way.

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Message from railroad baggage agent, Ogden, Utah, 1873

Just four years after a golden spike completed the much-anticipated and long-delayed link between the coasts at Promontory Point, Utah, Clark's rugged little valise traveled the cross-country railway route.

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Announcement to baggage agents, 1872

The valise covered 4,196 miles on its epic journey west, passing through the hands of twelve railroad companies and visiting Halifax, St. John, Bangor, Portland, Boston, New York, Chicago, Omaha, and Ogden.

It arrived in San Francisco on September 15.

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Ocean water can, 1873

Once there, the trunk was opened and the can of Atlantic Ocean water drawn from Halifax Harbor was poured into San Francisco Bay, the first known mixing of the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Greetings from San Francisco baggage handlers, 1873

PORTLAND, 1895 -- Before his death this year, Henry Clark "deposited this can and its valise, with its paper contents and inscriptions, as relics of historic interest, in the rooms of the Maine Historical Society, where they will ever remain."

Waistcoat belonging to Samuel Freeman, c. 1786

PORTLAND, 1825 -- Samuel Freeman, dressed like a relic from an earlier time in his breeches, waistcoat, and shoes with broad silver buckles, an outfit by which he is recognized all over town, laid the cornerstone for the new First Parish Church.

The 82-year-old fixture of Portland's civic life has been deacon of the church for 44 years.

Goodhue drawing of Samuel Freeman house, 1895

This "beautiful town by the sea" owes its recovery from the Mowat burning in 1775 and the difficult times of the early 1800s to Freeman and men like him who took charge and made sure the timber hewing industry, the candle and soap factories, shipbuilding, and shipping, among many others, could operate and help make the city prosperous.

Observatory timber contract, Portland, 1807

The chaos that ensues whenever a ship arrives in the harbor is familiar to any regular visitor to the waterfront -- the scramble to notify the ship's owners, merchants, and investors; the rush to find men to unload the ship; the push to prepare and load outgoing cargo.

Signals at the Portland Observatory

Moody, a former ship captain once captured by French privateers, says that investors were encouraged to move forward with their plans by the continuing expansion of commerce in the port, as well as by the investment in Portland made by the federal government when it built the lighthouse at Portland Point (Portland Head).

William Ladd, Minot, ca. 1830

NEW YORK, May 8, 1828 -- A year of intense travel and lobbying has paid off. William Ladd today became the founder of a new group devoted to promoting peace. But he won't be the president of the new American Peace Society.

Ladd, a former sea captain, now spends his time in "the diffusion of light respecting the evils of war, and the best means for effecting its abolition."

It seems that his group is part of a wave of new ideas -- temperance, abolition of slavery, and better treatment for the mentally ill -- that are taking the country by storm.

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William Ladd residence, Minot, ca. 1850

But why would a man who only wants to devote time to his farm in Minot take on such a monumental task? It all started in 1819 when he heard Bowdoin College President Jesse Appleton, who was dying, urge support of peace societies.

William Ladd decided Appleton was right and started working for peace. He already was committed to the abolition of slavery. Both positions were moral issues for Ladd.

His first talk on peace was at a blacksmith shop in Minot, where he lives.

Barrell Grove, York, 1800

PORTLAND, 1854 -- Madam Wood, known as "A Lady of Massachusetts" and subsequently "A Lady of Maine," has died.

Now that America is more used to women writing novels, Sally Sayward Barrell Keating Wood is celebrated in Portland and elsewhere as Maine's first novelist.

She has published four novels and one collection of tales and still remains the defender of woman's role as wife and mother, but acknowledges that the world intrudes on their homes and women must be educated to make wise and moral choices.

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Miniature portrait of Persis Sibley Andrews and daughter, 1844

DIXFIELD, 1844 -- Women might not have the right to own and control property, to vote, or to participate in civic activities. Many say they belong in the home, providing havens for their husbands and moral guidance to their children.

Card painted by Persis Sibley, ca. 1831

ROXBURY, MASS., October 21, 1917 -- Persis N. Andrews, daughter of Persis Sibley Andrews Black, donates a miniature portrait, embroidery, and other items relating to the life of her mother to the Maine Historical Society in Portland.

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Molly Ockett's purse, ca. 1785

INDIAN GIRL SURVIVES ATTACK;
FRENCH AND INDIAN OUTPOST CRIPPLED;
MOLLY OCKETT HAD LIVED AMONG ENGLISH

SANIT-FRANCOIS, CANADA, October 4, 1759 -- Many Abenaki Indians were killed or forced to flee when Major Robert Rogers and his Rangers attacked the mission at Saint-Francois (Odanak), but one smart young woman survived the destruction.

Molly Ockett, 15, hid behind a bush and escaped the British attack.

She knows the British well. In 1747, when her father and others tried to make peace with the British, she was sent to Boston with her family.

She learned to speak English.

But she and others knew peace was not possible this time. The British wanted the Indian lands and Indian scalps, so the Pequawkets of the upper Saco River in western Maine went to Canada for peace and shelter.